While various wheel release mechanisms have been proposed in the past for vehicles of this character, as shown, for instance, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,889,773, 4,504,094 and 5,394,968, all of which I incorporate herein by reference, they have been of a relatively complex and expensive nature or have not been friction free.
The present invention is concerned with a system which is simple, economic, and has a minimum number of parts. In the several embodiments illustrated, it is used in conjunction with a vehicle wheel which has a rim connected with a hub by a radial plate having circumferentially spaced protrusions on the plate which may comprise the nut and bolt assemblies used to secure the plate sections which form the plate. An axially displaceable drive transmitting member which receives the drive shaft or axle also disengageably receives the protrusions. The system preferably incorporates a simple cross pin carried by the driven axle or an axle extension which is normally received in a pin accommodation housing on the inner face of the drive transmitting member and a yieldable device reactable between the axle or axle extension which normally maintains the nested relationship of the pin in the housing, but is yieldable to permit the drive transmitter or actuator member to withdraw and rotate to a position in which it is held out of driving engagement with the pin and axle and the protrusions are free of the drive transmitting member to permit the wheel to free wheel.